RESIDENTS on a new housing estate are demanding the authorities use their clout to clean up playing fields and meadows overlooked by their homes.

People who live on Colburn's Regents Park say they are sick of clearing rubbish which blows into their homes from the playing fields at the new Health and Recreation Centre and from properties on the other side of the football pitches.

They also claim a 300-yard hedgerow is so thick with rubbish it is attracting rats, which have been spotted in nearby gardens.

Youths are also believed to have set fire to the shrubbery and to trees along the hedge line on more than one occasion.

Fields which back on to the sports pitches are littered with dumped mattresses, shattered wardrobes, old gas fires and bottles and other household junk.

One resident - who did not want to be named - said she had been pressing for action since 2002.

"I have had the rats in my garden but, when the council said they would charge me to deal with them, I told them not to bother," she said.

Richmondshire District Council environmental health chief Sean Little said the council was aware of the problem.

However, he said the matter was complicated by the fact the sports centre is run by the Colburn Community Partnership and the new Regents Park estate has not yet been handed over to council control and, legally, is still in the hands of the developer that built the homes.

He said: "We can have the area declared a litter control zone but these things take time and we have to follow the correct procedure. We are being as pro-active as we can."

A spokesman for the sports centre said members did their best to tackle litter but they would need the council's help if there was to be a more thorough clean-up.

"We don't have the resources to take the job on but, when we've asked the council for help, they've suggested charges which, as a charity, we can't really afford. Everyone needs to work together."